Draw closure bag



June 19, 1951 T. M. SCRUGGS DRAW CLOSURE BAG Filed Nov. 3; 1949 PatentedJune 19, 1951 DRAW CLOSURE BAG Thomas M. Scruggs, Richmond Heights, Mo.,as-

signor to Bemis Bro. Bag Company, St. Louis, Mo., a corporation ofMissouri Application November 3, 1949, Serial No. 125,270

4 Claims. 1 This .invention relates to draw-closure bags, and moreparticularly, to bags having a side seam in which the ends of the drawclosure are caught.

In the past, difficulty has been experienced in economically securingthe ends of a draw cord for a bag, for example, the ends of a draw cordwhich is interwoven in a Woven open-mesh bag tied, stapled, or anchoredwith finer stitching. United States Patent No. 2,393,151 shows onesolution of the problem upon which the' present invention is animprovement. The present in vention includes among its objects theelimina- 1tion of the expensive extra steps required by the priorconstructions as exemplified by said patent.

The draw-closure of the invention generally comprises a length ofraw-edged flat, woven narrow fabric which is secured around the mouth ofa bag, for example, as by being interwoven in an open-mesh bag. The flattape presents substantial end areas adapted to be readily caught bystitching at a bag side seam. The tape is made by slitting from fabricsheeting, raveling at the raw edges being preferably minimized byfolding along a longitudinal fold line, the folded condition beingmaintained by interweaving in the bag. Lateral yarns in the tape arespaced apart a relatively greater amount than the longitudinal yarns. toprovide a special effect where the tape is caught in the bag side seam.Other features will be in part apparent and in part pointed outhereinafter.

' a length of my new woven-in draw tape;

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the blank folded and seamed to form anunturned bag;

Fig. 3 is a detail plan view of the mouth edge portion of a leno-wovenbag illustrating the tape;

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are cross-sectional views illustrating tape folds; and,

Fig. '7 is a much enlarged detail view of a ten sioned draw cord tapeper se where intersected by stitching and illustrating certain desirablecharacteristics, adjacent bag portions being omitted.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

Referring to Fig. 1, there is shown a bag blank I of open-mesh bagmaterial having top and bot-tom selvages 3 and 5. The draw cord I iswoven into the bag web adjacent the top selvage 3, being passed over andunder several of the picks at a time (Fig. 3). The blank i is foldedupon itself along fold line F extending transversely of the draw cord sothat opposite side edges I I and draw cord ends I3 are adjacent eachother Fig. 2). The side edges and the bottom selvage are seamed by aline of stitching I5, the ends of the draw cord being caught in thestitching. A relatively coarse stitching, such as the chain, stitch, isemployed to form a proper cooperation with the relatively loosely wovenopen-mesh bag fabric. The bag may then be turned as usual so that theseam becomes turned inward.

As shown in Fig. 3, the bag web has a region I! adjacent the top selvage3 with an element missing from the leno warp I9, thus leaving a spacetwice the normal width for accommodation of the draw cord. The draw cordI is formed from cotton sheeting which is slit into narrow strips, forexample approximately the width of the region I! or twice the normalwarp spacing. Inasmuch as the tape extends a width substantially twicethe normal interstice 21, there is assurance it will be pierced andsecurely held by several stitches of the coarse bag stitching requiredfor making the seam.

A single thickness tape of the type shown in Fig. 3 while in many casespractical and economical is objectionable in some instances because ofits tendency to unravel at the raw edges 2|. Fig. 4 illustrates anembodiment of the invention wherein the tape strength is increased andthe raveling reduced as compared to the Fig. 3 embodiment, without undueincrease in cost. A textile strip 23 twice the width of the desired tapeis folded upon itself along a central longitudinal fold line throughoutits length so that the raw edges 25 are adjacent one another. Thus adouble thickness tape of U-shaped cross sec- Fig. 6 form of tape, themarginal edges 32 overlap and extend the full width of the finished tapeso that three thicknesses of triple strength are obtained Theoverlapping variety is desirablefor iarge bags requiring stronger drawcords.

The tape 'is'of a particular woven construction which provides animproved seam at its ends where caught in the relatively coarsestitching of the bagseam. Cloth from which the draw cord is cutpreferably has a relatively high num- Eer of strum: (ends) in the warp33 and a relatively low number of strands (picks) in the filler ll (Fig.3) .f The cloth is slitted parallel to the warp thereby leaving theclosely woven warp extending longitudinally and the looser fillerextending transversely. For example, a count of 56 x 18 has been foundsatisfactory. No. 22 cotton yarn in the warp and No. 17 cotton yarn inthe filling affords the desired degree of strength consistent witheconomy. The tape is made from sized material, the type of the sizingand its application being such as to permit the filling to slip or skidsomewhat on the warp under force exerted by the stitching I where itcatches the ends of the draw cord.

The seam strain in a single thickness draw cord is illustrated in Fig.'7. The coarse bag-seam stitching ii, for example chain stitching, is ina line transversely across the adjacent end areas I3 of the tape, withstitches passing through the tape at several laterally spaced points.Each stitch span 3! of the seam surrounds a group 39 of longitudinalwarp threads 33 of the tape. When tension is applied to the tape andseam, the stitch spans 3! become elongated and grip into bunches thegroups 33 of warp threads. The bunching and gripping action of thestitching on the longitudinal threads of the tape tends to resist thetendency of the tape ends under tension to be stripped from the seamstitching.

A small amount of slippage generally occurs,

but it is further resisted by the action of the lateral filler thread ofthe tape. As the tape ends slip in the stitching, filler threads 4|adjacent to and on the untensioned side of the tape ends are engaged bythe stitches passing through the tape and are displaced longitudinallyof the tape. The displaced filler threads 4| are shifted longitudinallywhich shifting tends to preclude progressive individual breakagethereof. Moreover, each displaced filler thread tends to project intoand become caught in the bunches 29 of warp threads as at 43, therebyfurther improving the bunching and gripping action of the stitching onthe warp threads. It will be noted that the relatively open spacing ofthe filler at the seam, resulting from the initial weaving and fromslippage permits the warp readily to bunch.

Where a folded tape is employed, bunching of the longitudinal warpthreads is further improved, particularly at the folded edge inasmuch asthe folded edge portions of the filler threads tend to gather and bunchthe warp threads when the former are displaced by the stitching. Also,

each displaced filler thread is engaged at two P ints by any stitch.

From the above it will be clear that one phase of the inventioncomprises the provision on an open-mesh bag of the class described of aneasily made flat tape which is made by slitting from a larger fabricsheet, the resulting raw edges of which may be infolded so as toeliminate or minimize unraveling. The infolded condition is maintainedby the fact that the tape is interwoven with the open-mesh fabric. Therelatively low-count lateral yarns, as compared to the relativelyhigh-count longitudinal yarns, with maximum economy produce theadvantageous seam strain eiiect in connection with the bag seam, asillustrated in Fig. 7.

It will be understood that the bag may be made of material other thanthe leno weave material illustrated. It is not essential that the bag bemade of open-mesh material. The draw tape may be of leno weave material,in which event slippage of the Widely spaced filler strands of the tapeon the warp strands is inherently controlled by the nature of the weave,in a manner similar to that in which the sizing on the illustratedplain-weave material controls slippage. If a leno woven tape is used,however, it also may be sized.

In view of the above, it will be seen that the several objects of theinvention are achieved and other advantageous results attained.

As many changes could be made in the above constructions withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention, it is intended that allmatter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanyingdrawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limitingsense.

I claim:

1. In a bag having a stitched side seam and an open mouth, a draw-typeclosure comprising a length of raw-edged woven narrow fabric folded uponitself along a longitudinal fold line throughout its length so that itslongitudinal edges are reinforced, said length of narrow folded fabricbeing interwoven in the bag adjacent its mouth and arranged flatwiscwith respzct to the bag with its ends caught in the stitched side seam,the width of the folded length of fabric being such that it is caught byseveral stitches at the side seam.

2. A bag as set forth in claim 1 wherein the length of fabric is foldedupon itself along a central fold line so that its longitudinal marginsare adjacent one another to form a V shape.

3. In a bag having a stitched side seam and an open bag mouth, adraw-type closure comprising a length of raw-edged woven narrow fabric,the length of fabric being woven into the bag adjacent its mouth andarranged fiatwise with respect to the bag body with its ends caught inthe bag side seam, said length of fabric having a plurality ofrelatively closely spaced longitudinal yarns and a plurality ofrelatively widely spaced transverse yarns, the width of said length offabric being such that it is caught by several stitches of the bag sideseam.

4. In a bag having a stitched side seam and an open bag mouth, adraw-type closure comprising a length of raw-edged woven fabriclongitudinally folded upon itself along a. longitudinal fold linethroughout its length, the folded length of fabric being woven into thebag adjacent its mouth and arranged flatwise with respect to the bagbody with its ends caught in the bag side seam, said folded length offabric having a pluraiity of relatively closely spaced longitudinalyarns and a plurality of relatively widely spaced transverse yarns, thewidthof said length of folded fabric being such that it is caught byseveral stitches of the bag side seam.

THOMAS M. SQRUGGS. REFERENCES CITED The following references are ofrecord in the file of this patent:

Number 6 UNITED sums m'mn'rs

